End of day 3

Rosie decided she'd be fine by herself tonight, calling the nurse if she needed to get up to the toilet of anything else. Jessye, who was happy to sleep with her again, said she could try it tonight and if she didn't like being alone, Jessye could sleep over tomorrow night.

So at 10:30pm, after the last of her meds for the day, we bade Rosie goodnight and walked back to the Travelodge.

Rosie has had a particularly hard time today with the noise in her head. She hears her pulse very strongly all the time and it drives her crazy. When her head and ear are against the pillow or bed, it sounds like liquid sloshing in pulse rhythm. So she was keen to go to sleep when the Panadol and anti-nausea med were at their most effective in the hope that she wouldn't be woken up by pain or feeling sick and could have a long break from the racket in her head.

I'll go over early tomorrow morning and am hoping that Rosie has a long rest and relief tonight.

Ups and downs

It's an emotional roller coaster for Rosie from good times with the siblings to despondency about the throbbing in her head, the feeling of being trapped in a ward where the average age is 80, food she doesn't like etc. She was so calm and strong leading up to the surgery and I think this part is much harder for her. I'm very glad to have Jessye and Sophie here to distract her in the darker moments. The outdoor area at the cafe is becoming a favourite spot and tonight I went to the nearby mammoth Macquarie Centre to get noodles takeaways which we had outside at Rosie's request.

Fresh air

Rosie slept for at least 2 hours after lunch then waited for Jessye and Sophie to return. They came bearing a pair of duck slippers for Rosie that were a little tight but got one wearing down to the cafe outdoor area where we hung out for a while and played cards.


Jessye was allowed to have one of Rosie's beautiful macarons brought by my cousins Merlyne and David.

Rest

A nurse from Prof Morgan's rooms popped in earlier with some brief notes on what to do and expect during recovery and she said Rosie would probably need more rests and even little sleeps even after going home and for the next months. It makes perfect sense that that the body will be working hard to recover from the surgery. After her exertions at lunchtime, Rosie has been sleeping like a baby since we got back to her room.

Up and about

After a period of feeling down in the dumps this morning (partly headache, constipation and nausea and partly just stir-crazy), Rosie's meds kicked in and she felt well enough to want to move. We asked for a wheelchair so I could take her down to the cafe and outside for some fresh air and we also asked if the Physio could come and get her walking.

The physio who had got her up for the first time in the ICU yesterday, came and got Rosie walking along the corridor and back with her orthotic and shoes on with the help of a walker. She was very impressed with the big difference between yesterday and today.


While they were strolling, Michael, Miika and a small entourage happened to be on their rounds. They were also impressed with Rosie's walking. Michael is very happy with her progress in general. He says they have stopped the steroid which may feel like a let down but it's good to be off it.


Finally, the wheelchair arrived and we went down in the lift to the cafe via a short walk outside the front of the hospital. Rosie was thrilled to feel the breeze, see the trees and breathe outside air. To her, it's been a lot longer than two days. She ordered a sausage roll with tomato sauce and we sat outside to eat. Jessye and Sophie, by the way, went op shopping in Newtown this morning, again on the train.

Day 3, dehatted

After a delicious 7 hours continuous sleep, very unusual for me, I had breakfast and headed over to Rosie at 8am. On the walk over, I saw Miika (Michael's neurosurgical fellow) and the amigos going back into their office in the Macquarie University Clinic building next to the hospital. They had just been with Rosie taking her hat off. I was amazed to see how neat and minimal the taped wound was and how little of her hair they had removed. Michael had told Rosie on day 1 that she'd be pleased with how much of her hair they managed to keep.





However, Rosie's not able to be pleased about anything much this morning because she's been to the toilet about 5 times trying to move her bowels with no success and she feels a bit nauseous. She's had anti-constipation meds now and is waiting for a different type of anti-nausea med. As soon as she's had that she'll try to get some breakfast down.

Until 6am, though, she slept through the night with no headache interruption until then. Jessye slept well too.